Zutara Week 2014
by Rain of the Stars
Summary: Oneshots for each theme from Zutara Week 2014. Belated uploading, but the spirit of the week is still here.


Day 1: Melancholy

Zuko coughed up some more blood and groaned as he rested his head back onto the pillow. He was dying. He had been bedridden for the past couple of weeks and now he knew the end was near.

"Grandfather, please have some of this. It's the last of the stock Master Katara made before she died." Zuko's grandson Iroh tried to give him the medicinal vial, but Zuko pushed his hand away impatiently. He didn't want to stay alive any longer. There was very little left to live for. His family was fine. His son sat on the throne and was a fine ruler. Iroh was a great general and Zuko was proud to say that he was a better version of himself. Mai had passed away years ago and deaths of Katara and Toph within the last year left Zuko the sole Gaang member alive.

Without a doubt, Zuko had lived a good life, but he wanted to leave it now because he had been too late to perfect it.

"Iroh…"

"Yes, Grandfather?"

"Pass me the forbidden box."

Iroh blanched a little at the request. Zuko had named the lacquered box such because Mai had taken it from with the promise that he would never open it again. But she was gone now and Zuko was dying. He would get what he wanted.

His grandson was hardly a child, yet Zuko wondered if he should dismiss him anyways. Then again, Iroh was like him and would probably open the box after he died from sheer curiosity. Zuko let out a soft sigh as he thought to himself that people rarely ever got what they truly wanted. He then turned to Iroh, "This box could five you pain. Leave now if you want. Stay if you want. I don't care. But if you choose to stay, you must promise me something."

"I'm not going anywhere, Grandfather." Iroh had the stubborn look in his face that reminded Zuko of him when he was younger.

"When I die, burn my body with this box and do not tell our family of what you see here. It would hurt your mother especially," Zuko ordered.

Iroh seemed to hesitate, but then he took the box off of Mai's night table and placed it in Zuko's waiting hands. The black box was enameled with two fish: one of mother-of-pearl and the other of onyx. Red and white dragons made up the border of the box. Each dragon took up two sides and was made of small crystals.

Zuko's rheumatic hands trembled as he removed the clasp of the silver lock and opened the box. Time stood still as he stared down at the contents. There were a packet of letters, a gold hair comb in the shape of a lotus, a necklace of red ribbon with a mother-of-pearl pendant hanging from it, and a silver ring.

Zuko heard Iroh take a sharp breath. "These aren't Grandmother's."

He couldn't help, but glare at his grandson. "Just say what you're thinking."

"You had some kind of an affair with a waterbender."

Zuko's eyes softened. "I would never have dishonored Mai. But I never loved her the way I loved this woman. If we didn't have our own duties… if one of us had been freer, I like to think that we would have lived our lives together."

Iroh's eyes lit with understanding. "You were in love with Master Katara."

Zuko sighed. "You always were very perceptive. Yes, I loved her. I still do. I couldn't help it. I fought it and so did she. I had broken up with your Grandmother and Katara had stopped seeing the Avatar. We were on a mission to capture some dangerous criminals in the new Republic City and the spark we had ignored for years ignited. She was tired of taking care of people. I need passion in my life.

Zuko forgot everything as he started thinking of the past.

"Zuko, watch out!" Katara shouted.

Zuko ducked and felt a rush of water over his head as Katara froze yet another Dai Li agent. The new Earth King was not very happy with them. He had sent Dai Li agents into Republic City to attempt to infiltrate the government and force it to collapse. The Gaang wasn't about to take that.

Zuko was beginning to straighten when he felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. "Seriously, Katara?!" He growled as the waterbender gracefully twirled in the air. Her water swept through the room and Dai Li agents fell like elephant flies as they were sliced through.

Katara landed as lightly as an airbender without bothering to reply to him. She took off running to fight off the next Dai Li agent. Typical. She was all business in battle and resourceful. If she needed to get in the air, she would use any purchase she could find; including Fire Lords apparently.

Zuko ran by her side and together the two of them finished their job. Zuko grasped the last Dai Li agent by his robes and dragged him down to the ground. He was about to step on the man's chest to keep him under his control, but Katara moved faster and pinned the agent to the floor with ice. The interrogation didn't take long. Nobody messed with the Burning Waves, as Katara and Zuko had come to be known as.

Katara wrote a quick note to Aang and sent it off with Hawkie. The hawk was old, but still fast and reliable. When she finished, she turned to Zuko with a grin. "Lotus Dragon?"

Zuko soon had a cup of jasmine tea in hand. Lotus Dragon was his Uncle's Republic City tea shop and the most successful of them. However busy it got though, the Gaang always had a place there. Iroh kept a suite of rooms above each shop he owned for the use of the Gaang and White Lotus exclusively. Katara was soaking in the hot tub while Zuko enjoyed the general heat of the bathing room and tried to avoid looking at his companion. The waterbender was in her breast bindings and a simple white skirt. Luckily, both were thick enough that he couldn't see anything because he didn't know if he had the control to see Katara and not make a move.

"This is the best way to unwind after a fight," Katara sighed happily. "You should come in!"

"Water isn't really my element," Zuko stated as he looked down into his now empty cup of tea. He could practically see Katara's eyes roll and heard her get up. Suddenly, she was crouching in front him, pushing his chin up to force him to look at her. Zuko felt like he could drown in those cerulean pools she had for eyes.

"You've been cranky since we met up. What's up? Is Mai still trying to get back with you?" Her big blue eyes were gorgeous and the concern in them made his heart skip a beat.

He sat back without removing his eyes from her face. This way they no longer touched and Zuko felt like he could at least breathe even if he still couldn't think straight "Yeah. Mai is still trying to get back with me, but it's been a year now and she's at least not trying to interrupt my meditation sessions anymore. She's behaving as a lady of the court should."

Katara's eyes narrowed at that. "Are you making a statement that women shouldn't be as bold as men?"

Zuko gulped nervously. The only people scarier than an angry Katara were his father (who couldn't hurt him anymore) and Azula (but she was insane and locked up so she couldn't hurt him either). "That's not what I meant Katara."

"Oh, really?" Zuko was unnerved by the amount of water that was starting to rise in the air. But then again, this was Katara and she'd never hurt him. He gave her an affectionate smile.

"Come on. You're the person I talk to about everything, including politics. If I really believed that, would I be asking you for advice?"

Katara's mouth opened and closed. She glared at him because he'd won the argument and swiftly spun up on to her feat with catlike grace to pour herself more tea. Zuko couldn't help it. He jumped behind her and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her against him into a hug. Katara tensed, clearly surprised. Zuko leaned his head down on top of hers. "And I don't know how to deal with how I feel about you."

Katara spun in his arms and kissed him. Zuko's eyes widened. Katara. Kissing. Him. Her hand rested on his scar. The scar he had once been so ashamed of. The scar he had grown to be proud of. The scar Mai only touched when she wanted something from him. And suddenly Zuko was kissing her back. He couldn't get enough of her. She was beautiful and strong and gentle and… "How can you be so good at everything?" He groaned.

Their relationship had blossomed from there. It was a long distance relationship, but it only increased their fondness for one another. A year into their relationship, she visited him in the Fire Nation. It was partially a diplomatic mission to resolve some smuggling issues involving rogue Fire Nation citizens and Southern Water Tribe merchants.

The Fire Blossom Festival was going on and Zuko took her to it. They danced in the streets and ate traditional Fire Nation food. Zuko presented her with a lotus blossom comb for her hair. The lotus was made of mother-of-pearl and rubies; jewels of both the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation. As he put the comb in her hair, he leaned his forehead against hers and whispered "I love you."

Katara kissed him gently and replied. "I know; I love you too." It was the first time they said the words and the first time they made love. Zuko decided that night that he would marry her.

Katara left the Fire Nation with the comb in her hair and a simple silver ring engraved with dragons and koi fish on the Fire Lord's finger. It had been the waterbender's parting gift to him and he thought he'd never take it off.

Everything changed when the man who would become Amon emerged only a month later. There was an immense anti-waterbending push amongst the upper classes in the Fire Nation. Though the Gaang had dealt with Amon and Katara was clearly not the same as him, Katara paid Zuko a visit to return the gifts he had given her and the letters he had sent her. "Your duty is to the Fire Nation first," she told him by the turtle duck pond.

Zuko tried his best to argue. Katara would be the perfect Fire Lady. She was compassionate and fierce. A warrior and a healer. Wise beyond her years, yet youthful. Beautiful, yet modest. In many ways she was just like his mother had been and he didn't want to let her walk out of his life. It would have been one thing if Katara broke up with him because she no longer loved him, but the tears in her eyes told him that she didn't really want this. In the end though, they kissed each other one last time and Katara left.

When she left, Zuko took out the lacquered box he now held in his hands and gently gathered all the little things that represented their relationship. Zuko had shuddered as he cried over the box. At the time it had only contained an engagement necklace made of red ribbon with an engraved design of koi fish on a mother of pearl amulet. The red silk ribbon had dragons on it. The box and necklace had been supposed to be engagement gifts; promises of spending his life with Katara.

In the end, he settled for Mai. Without Katara in his life, Zuko no longer cared who it was he married. He knew he would never love anyone the way he loved Katara. Maybe if the war had never happened and if he had never met the waterbender, Mai could have been the love of his life. She was still a great friend and he did love her, but he would never be in love with her again. He supposed you always loved your first love, but once that passion was gone, you never loved them the same.

Those were Zuko's final thoughts. When the Fire Lord next woke, his hair was short and shaggy. His skin was no longer wrinkled and his muscles were strong again. He was no longer garbed in Fire Lord robes, but was wearing the same clothes he had worn when he had joined the Gaang. The firebender blinked a few times, confused. He was in the Jasmine Dragon staring at the Gaang as they gave him wide smiles. They were all in their fighting clothes though there were no wars to be had in death. Only Aang wasn't there.

"So I'm…"

"Gone. Moved on. Done with life. Dead. Being eaten by badger worms. Yep." Sokka grinned. "Welcome to our eternal home."

Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. "But where's Aang?"

Katara gave a sad smile. "The Avatar has other duties in death. He must help Korra along and the Avatars who come after her. He visits now and again with your Uncle, but both belong to another world now."

"And so what do we do here?" Zuko asked hesitantly. It was a general question, but the words were directed to Katara. Mai didn't tense at all. It was unusual.

"We stick by each other, no matter what." Katara smiled and swept her hand out towards the Gaang. Then, she gave a quizzical look to Mai. Ty Lee put a hand on Mai's shoulders and Mai put hers on top of Ty Lee's, giving the former acrobat a surprisingly loving look before turning to Katara with a calm, slight nod.

Katara walked up to Zuko and put her hand on his scar. He faintly heard Sokka growling something and Suki and Toph silencing him. But all the firebender could focus on was the necklace on Katara's neck. He had never shown her it. Never had the chance to. Yet there it sat on her beautiful neck. Then, she was kissing him and he had her in his arms. Zuko decided then that a melancholy life of waiting was worth it when Katara was at the end of it.


End file.
